Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 13, 2026
SECONDs Administration Guidelines: A Fast Tool to Assess Consciousness in Brain-injured Patients
Published on: February 6, 2021
Reliability of the relative's questionnaire for assessment of outcome after brain injury
D J Hellawell1, D F Signorini, B Pentland
1Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
Purpose:
The relative's questionnaire (RQ) was developed to assess outcome after brain injury. The present study investigated its test-retest reliability when used in a postal survey.
Method:
Hospital records were used to identify and contact 288 surviving patients treated for brain injury five to seven years earlier. Patients were sent a copy of the RQ (RQ1) and one month later a second copy (RQ2) was sent to those who returned RQ1.
Result:
Two hundred and eleven patients were successfully contacted, of whom 128 (61%) returned RQ1, and 94 of these (73%) returned RQ2. The reliability of items was variable, with most having a kappa value of > 0.6 suggesting 'substantial agreement' or better.
Conclusion:
The data presented suggest that the RQ is a reliable instrument in collecting outcome information in brain-injured patients by postal survey. Further research is recommended to test the suitability of the RQ for the use as a telephone interview.
